Hal Draper

Could Lenin, Trotsky, Kautsky, and other prominent Marxists have misunderstood what Marx meant by the phrase “dictatorship of the proletariat”? In this engrossing study, Hal Draper strips away layers of misinterpretation to show that they did indeed misunderstand, and then proceeded to build elaborate ideological constructs on this warped base. … | more |

Volume I of Hal Draper’s definitive and masterful study of Marx’s political thought, which focuses on Marx’s attitude toward democracy, the state, intellectuals as revolutionaries, and much, much more.… | more |

This is the second installment of Hal Draper’s exhaustive and incomparable treatment of Marx’s political theory, policy, and practice. In forceful and readable language, Draper ranges through the development of the thought of Marx and Engels on the role of classes in society.… | more |

In this third volume of his definitive study of Karl Marx’s political thought, Hal Draper examines how Marx, and Marxism, have dealt with the issue of dictatorship in relation to the revolutionary use of force and repression, particularly as this debate has centered on the use of the term “dictatorship of the proletariat.” Writing with his usual wit and perception, Draper strips away the layers of misinterpretation and misinformation that have accumulated over the years to show what Marx and Engels themselves really meant by the term.… | more |

Much of Karl Marx’s most important work came out of his critique of other thinkers, including many socialists who differed significantly in their conceptions of socialism. The fourth volume in Hal Draper’s series looks at these critiques to illuminate what Marx’s socialism was, as well as what it was not. Some of these debates are well-known elements in Marx’s work, such as his writings on the anarchists Proudhon and Bakunin. Others are less familiar, such as the writings on “Bismarckian socialism” and “Boulangism,” but promise to become better known and understood with Draper’s exposition. He also discusses the more general ideological tendencies of “utopian” and “sentimental” socialisms, which took various forms and were ingredients in many different socialist movements.… | more |

This fifth volume in Hal Draper’s magnificently lucid account of Marx’s politics is just as enlightening, tough-minded, and encyclopedic as the volumes that preceded it. Draper—whose posthumous drafts for this volume have been ably polished and completed by his long-time collaborator Ernie Haberkern—was one of the greatest Marx scholars ever. Do you want to know what Marx really said and thought about war and revolution, after 150 years of partisan mudslinging and misreading? Draper knows—and in this volume he shares his knowledge with consummate precision, unfailing insight, and no-nonsense good cheer.… | more |